Rolling Over...No Big Deal

Willa has been rolling over since she was five months old. It took me a few weeks of trying to get it on video. This little stinker stops all action once she sees my camera or flip video. For Willa, tummy time equals drool time. Good thing we have a large supply of blankets.

Oh, and my daughter is not a carnivore. We were just waiting for her bottle to warm.  No arms or fingers were lost during this taping.

Baby Elevator

Clothes are optional in our house. Less laundry is a good thing. Oh, and I'm happy Willa has a strong stomach.

Prune Juice and Crawfish

No, we didn't cook crawfish in prune juice. That would be gross.

Willa is a daily pooper. Sometimes a multiple pooper.  Last week she went three days without filling her diaper. Willa wasn't straining or lowering her feeds but Daren was still concerned. So, while Daren was out with the boys watching the Nascar truck race in Rockingham, Willa and I took a walk to HT to buy some prune juice.

It was about 1:30 when I gave her a bottle - 1oz of prune juice and 3 oz of breast milk. Apparently the new combination didn't phase her because she almost drained it. After about 30 minutes and only one fart I put her in the swing for a nap (with a blanket just in case we had some butt action). While Willa slept I was getting hounded about going to watch the Masters with some friends. Finally, a little after 4pm, Willa awoke from her nap.

Not wanting to arrive empty handed, I swung through the drive thru at Wendy's to pick up four frosty's.  That is when I heard IT. Her butt. Nothing I could do but just get to the Langley's and see the damage. After handing off the frosty's I set down Willa's car seat to unbuckle my little girl and change the diaper. Not good. The diaper didn't contain the three days worth of poo. Down her leg, on the strap and on the cushion.

Upstairs went the ladies. I dumped Willa in their bathtub and Layna started cleaning the car seat. Willa still hates bathtubs and made her displeasure known. Layna used a lot of wipes. The poop had made its way down to the base. I think my child lost about 2 pounds in the span of 10 seconds. We sent a picture  to Daren...no worries, I won't share the pic with you all.

Fast forward to this weekend and the crawfish.

Our neighborhood cajun flew in a ton of crawfish for our neighborhood party. I've never had crawfish. Not a lot of seafood in Iowa. Heck, I still enjoy eating my fish in a triangular shape. Eating crawfish is a very messy process. You can't exactly hold a baby and eat crawfish at the same time so I finally got to use the play pen I received as a shower gift. I wish I had a picture of the neighborhood kids all around Willa. The scene reminded me of a zoo exhibit.

Anyway, back to the crawfish. It was an experience. Lots of fun hanging out with the neighborhood folks now that our weather has become warmer. I'm looking forward to a lot more functions happening in our cul-de-sac.

because he MATTers to me

Baby Brooklyn and Erika

On Saturday Willa and I took part in the 2013 Triangle MS Walk.  This was in support of our friends Matt, Erika and Brooklyn Habib.

Matt was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis in 2010. Team Habib raised over $1100 to find a cure for multiple sclerosis.

Both babies were super troopers with all of the noise and excitement. There were over 3,000 walkers, a live band, and a whole lot of yippy dogs. The only time Willa got upset was when Team Habib erupted into loud cheers when it was announced we won the award for best team t-shirt. Erika is sooooo talented!!

I'm already taking notes for the 2014 walk. Orange clothing is hard to find outside of October. I'll need to start planning early for Willa's outfit for next year.

Some of the fabulous Team Habib members

Best team t-shirt!

Hydrating after the walk

Baby love

Summer Clothes!!

Temperatures in North Carolina are in the 80's and this means it is time for summer clothing! I certainly never thought my daughter would still be wearing 0-3 clothing at five months. I'm hoping all the great 3-6 month clothing I bought at the consignment sales won't go to waste!

Our friends, Don and Jenna Smith, gave Willa a super cute new dress which she wore on Wednesday. Well, that was the only warm weather appropriate outfit in her closet. I was very happy to take an "emergency" shopping trip to Kohl's and Target.

Quite often Willa is just waking up when I'm leaving for work so I don't get a fashion show. I love it that Daren snaps some quick pics with his phone to share with me. You never know when this kid is going to have a blowout diaper and then the outfit goes in the dirty laundry pile. Yesterday, the crabby outfit bit the dust as soon as we got home from daycare.

The lovely backdrop for these pictures is on blankets near our couch. Willa loves to stretch out for tummy time and some rolling sessions after her morning bottle. Sneaky little girl has yet to let us capture a video of her rolling in both directions. I want to send a little tutorial to our friend Brooklyn.

Five Month Pictures

I think these photo sessions are going to become a bit of a challenge. Willa doesn't hold still for long. The blocks are getting kicked around. Also, she kept trying to lean over and reach the elephant. It is a good thing I have ninja fast skills with the camera!  Oh, and unofficially our little girl weighed 10 pounds as of last week!

Easter In Iowa

I'm going to try and hit the highlights and tell most of the story with pictures.

Sadly, I start out with no pictures from our flights from RDU to Minneapolis and Minneapolis to Sioux Falls. If I did have pictures, it would of a diaper clad baby laying across out laps. Willa did great during the flights. Unfortunately, both we stripped her down to a her diaper because it was so hot on the plane for both flights. Oh, and I don't have a picture of me using the family bathroom at RDU for pumping.

My mom picked us in Sioux Falls. Again, I don't have picture of my struggles to pump in the backseat of her Enclave. However, I do have pictures from Famous Dave's. Who doesn't love eating barbecue from the lid of a trash can?

Suzie snapped up my baby

Gabe took down 4 ears of corn

Avery and the fire alarm...memories

The rest of Thursday was uneventful. Made the drive to Hull and tucked everyone in their beds for the night. Willa did a good job sleeping in her pack-n-play.

Early morning cuddle

Friday morning started off with some cuddle time for cousin Stella.  I went and got my hair done and even convinced Daren to get a slight trim of his mop. Friday afternoon brought the Iowa City/Indianapolis caravan of my older sister Sheila, her 18 month old daughter Regan, and Aunt Sue/GABS. I turned to Stella and said, "Stella, if you want to hold Willa you better do it now b/c Aunt Sheila just got here and GABS will be following shortly. Plus, once your mom gets here tonight you won't have an opportunity to hold Willa." Stella's response, "Oh, I don't think so. Aunt Sheila isn't as baby crazy as my mom is." Stella stewed on that response for a bit before asking if she could hold Willa. I just laughed and told her she made a good choice. I think Stella got to hold Willa about two seconds before Sheila snatched her away.

Mom, Willa, and I all went to Rock Valley to collect Grandpa Keizer for supper and to visit Aunt Toots. Toots is my grandpa's sister and she also lives in the Rock Valley nursing home. 

My mom had slaved all day over our gourmet feast of ham balls, hashbrown casserole, strawberry fluff, pea salad, pasta salad and "homemade" apple pie. Minues the pea salad...I was in heaven. You can't find ham loaf in North Carolina. I know this because I have asked.

The rest of the evening was spent hanging out with the kiddos and taking lots of pictures. It sure is fun trying to get all of Grandpa's five great grandkids to smile and look at the camera all at the same time.

Saturday morning became a pajama party. Regan and Willa have the same jammies!!! Of course, we all had to take a million pictures. Also, I just love Regan's bed head.

Saturday afternoon was Willa's open house. People from Iowa are very punctual. We had lots of fun visiting with friends and family. Also, we had some more babies come and visit. I realized holding these chunkier kiddos that I'm in for a world of hurt when Willa starts to gain some weight. I need to either get some more muscle or learn how to hold her on my right side. 

Saturday evening was quality time with the Keizer side of the family. We actually got all of Grandpa Keizer's 10 great grandchildren together at one time. We were attempting to take a great grandkid photo...unfortunately it will soon be out of date because #11 will be here in a few short weeks and #12 arrives in August. Still waiting to find out which of the four photographers got the best shot. I think this one is the best one my little sister managed to take. I sure hope one of my cousins did a better job.      

Sunday definitely came too fast.  I wasn't ready to get back on that airplane. I had some final cuddle sessions with my nieces and nephew. I'm not sure Willa was left alone a single second. We all had a fabulous trip and are unsure of when we are venturing back to the midwest.

The Fourth Month

It is once again time to compare Willa's tricks and skills with the four month milestones found in the book What To Expect The First Year.  I'm not going to post a previously reached milestone, that is unless I have a cute picture to go along with the item. 

What your baby may be doing -

...should be able to:

• on stomach, left head up 90 degrees I've not gotten out an actual protractor...but I think this looks like 90 degrees. 
• laugh out load Yup and I should have a video. Shame on me.

...will probably be able to:

• on stomach, raise chest, supported by arms Eh, that might be a bit much. Willa more balances on  her stomach while lifting her head and legs off the ground. 
• reach for an object This started happening at the beginning of four months. She loves to lay on her play mat and attack the birds hanging above her.
  
• squeal in delight This is a gray area...

...may possibly be able to:

• keep head level with body when pulled to sitting Willa has a weak core. This will be an area we need to work on. 
• roll over (one way) I don't have video proof of a roll over. They happen infrequently and she often teases us by rolling from side to side.

...may even be able to:

• sit without support Nope, we use the bumbo for sitting
• object if you try to take away a toy Does it count if she gets upset if the bottle is empty and she is still hungry?

Happy Birthday William J Keizer!

 

Happy 88th birthday to Willa's Great Grandpa Keizer!!!!!

Five months!

Another message from Willa:

Happy Easter everyone! Sorry I'm a little late (again) writing this, but I am a girl on the go. It's actually about a week past me being five months old, but I'm not paid to do this. I am, however, accepting donations. That reminds me, mommy tried to take my official 5 month pictures this evening but I just wasn't feeling it. I did have a little fun smiling when she wasn't ready and then frowning when she took the pictures. It was a little game that I played - I think I won.


Mommy and daddy keep complaining that I don't eat enough, but if I want to land the cover of Sports Illustrated, I have to start watching my girlish figure now (plus they're great with those air brushes, so it will be a piece of cake for them to make my little scar will disappear). Plus there is no variety in what they're feeding me. You try eating the same thing six times a day for 150 straight days and see how you like it. That's what I thought.

I do think that I am much more mature now. I can roll onto my belly. No, I can't roll from my belly onto my back. I can hold my head up like a champ, though. Mommy got me a bumbo seat that I occasionally hang out in, and tummy time is pretty fun, too (especially since I get stuck there). I'm also in my crib in my own room. I love the extra space. I like to spin around while I'm sleeping - my record might be two or three complete circles in one sleep.

I am hoping that by the time that I am six, the weather will be a little bit better. It's been cold, but with my newfound independence, I am ready to start watching some baseball games at UNC, watch daddy play some softball and hang out at the pool. Mommy has stocked my pool wardrobe and I am ready to flaunt my goods.

I guess that's about all that's new with me. I'll let mommy tell you all about our trip to Iowa. I think it's time for me to go to sleep. Talk to you all again next month!